Aggressive and loud in combat, calm and contemplative everywhere else. Jorias gives the impression of being an statesment or teacher.
Looks like Fiddler’s Green from Sandman, but younger and with red hair and beard.
Jorias Ferris grew up in the chaos of Nexus. The son of a prostitute, Jorias was abandoned at age six, dropped off in one of the city’s few orphanages. The matron of the orphanage, Ceilia West, was a kind, generous soul, and instilled much of her virtue into Jorias. Being in orphan in Nexus is not easy, but Ceilia made it bearable, even pleasant.
On his sixteenth birthday, Jorias left the orphanage. Always a large man, he found work as a bodyguard within the city. He tended to guard merchants, and tried to learn from them as much as he could about business.
By the time he reached twenty-three, he had put enough money together to open his own business, a small antiques and rare books shop. The only available space he could afford was near the Nexus Harlotry. Jorias managed to turn this to an advantage, though only accidentally. One of the harlots working next store came into the shop one day seeking to trade a trinket her customer had given her as payment. Jorias agreed to broker the item for her, taking a smaller percentage than usual. Soon, he found himself providing this service to most of the harlots in the area. He also arranged a deal with most of the brothels that his customers be given discounts, which increased business for both Jorias and the brothels.
As his business began to succeed, he met and married Fran Anglis and they bore two children. While never a rich man, Jorias was comfortable and happy. He spent his spare time studying the books brought into his store. One in particular obsessed his thoughts, a book detailing how a First Age anathema had been killed, but the body lost down a deep ravine and never recovered. The book contained a riddle of where this was, and Jorias spent years trying to figure it out.
At age 28, the answer came upon him suddenly, while walking down the middle of a crowded street. Seconds later, he exalted. Most of the crowd fled in terror, but some started shooting arrows at him. Wounded, he gathered his family and ran to the only place he could think might help him: the orphanage.
Ceilia West greeted him with a smile, hid them in the basement, gave them food, then instructed one of the orphans to run to the nearest Immaculate Temple and tell them she had a vile anathema in her basement. The excited child did as he was told, but also yelled out the news to anyone he saw on the street. Jorias heard these yells in the basement, and made to leave, but a mob had already gathered. Thinking himself a threat to his family, he left them there and ran.
The mob thought he was still in the orphanage, however, and put the building to the torch, killing everyone inside, including Jorias’ family, Ceilia and all the orphans.
Distraught, angry and confused, Jorias did the only thing he could think of: track down the riddle in the book, which now seemed more important than ever. After a journey that nearly killed him, he found the ravine and eventually uncovered the anathema’s spear and armor, though the body had long since decayed. As he left the ravine, he began to feel the pull of the manse. As he made is way to it, he stumbled across a band of bored Dragon-Blooded, who pursued him all the way into the jungle, where the cicle rescued him.
Though the calm voice of authority on the outside, Jorias is internally something of an emotional basketcase, grasping around at whatever he can find to make sense of it all.
Jorias rarely speaks of his family and never talks about the journey where he recovered his armor and spear.
Jorias really doesn't know what to do, so he is falling back on just trying to learn everything, particularly sorcery.